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You’ve set up your classroom. You know your kids and curriculum. You have the basics down.

Everything is running smoothly, except…

There’s one student who disrupts your class on a regular basis. One student who doesn’t respond to the expectations of the classroom.

The whole situation may have you feeling frustrated and discouraged.

Stop right there.

The first thing you need to realize is that this is not about you.

As personal as some students can seem to make it, your first task is to change your own perspective. Children who misbehave or adolescents who act out are almost always expressing an emotion or a problem that’s just beneath the surface. The key to improving their behavior is to figure out what function that action serves and then address the root of the problem.

When it comes right down to it, teaching in general, and working as part of a professional learning community (PLC) specifically, are very human endeavors. Our charge as educators and the interactions we have with each other in pursuit of that charge are very personal, indeed.

As such, it’s easy to forget when we’re in the throes of a PLC meeting and working on processes like writing SMART goals, that we’re dealing with people, and with all of the talents, knowledge, curiosities, skepticisms — and yes, baggage — they bring to the table.

By comparison, it’s easier to blindly forge through and tick off items on an agenda than to be in touch with and respond to the interpersonal dynamics that play out as those agenda items are executed. This is the road less traveled, in a sense; acknowledging and honoring the humanity of teacher teams, and not forgetting for an instant that everything we accomplish (or not) happens squarely in this context.

TchLaureate Geneviève Debose Akinnagbe teaches ELA at Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists (BSSWA) in New York City, a secondary school where teachers refer to their students as “Scholar-Activists.” She’s developed a unit on Scholar Activism for her middle school students so they have a better idea of what that title means and the honor it carries.

So far, we’ve explored the following questions:

What, exactly, is “scholar activism,” and why is it important to teach our students about scholar activism in the classroom?

In this post, Geneviève shares what she calls one of the coolest projects she’s ever done with students, when they engaged with a community organization called Citizens Committee for New York City to actively improve their school community in the Bronx.

Teaching in December can be tricky and sometimes downright difficult. You may find yourself digging deeper and deeper into your bag of tricks. You may need something fresh to keep you and your students on track. You may simply need a break.

You can survive and even thrive in December! Here are four tips to get you through the holiday season.

Our Democracy is Precarious

In a 2017 national survey, just 20 percent of Americans said they trusted the government to do what’s right for them always or most of the time, and only about one third of young adults said they’re optimistic about the nation’s future. When a government that aims to be of the people, by the people, and for the people, is only trusted by 20 percent of the people, something is significantly wrong.

What’s more? Disengagement from, and frustration with, the divisive nature of politics appears to be intensifying. In fact, a poll of teens in 2016 showed that most believe they’re living in a divided America, with four out of five teenagers saying that Americans are greatly divided on their most important values.

We believe that educators have a significant role to play in responding to these challenges.

Education for democracy can prepare our youth to learn about, engage with, and respond to complex civic and political issues in informed and effective ways.

I loved being a teacher and relished in the futuristic vision of myself.

I’d sport salt and pepper grey hair like my Grandma Lu, thoughtfully sip my decaf coffee from my Wonder Woman traveler mug, and still execute perfectly timed dance moves through lessons, discussions, and projects for the enjoyment of my students. I always knew that if I ever left the classroom it would have to be for something important, and I couldn’t think of anything more important than positively impacting the lives of young people. Then I learned about a career opportunity that would allow me to do just that, but on a national scale, and I was all in.

I was asked to Co-Direct the Share Your Learning Campaign, a national initiative that aims to empower 300,000 teachers to shape the path for five million students to publicly present their learning to an audience beyond the classroom by the year 2020, and I said, “Yes.”

Although I had strong reservations about leaving the security of my classroom and the mutual love and respect of “my babies,” aka my students, I was eager to be a part of a nationwide transformation of student learning.

TchLaureate Geneviève Debose Akinnagbe teaches ELA at Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists (BSSWA) in New York City, a secondary school where teachers refer to their students as “Scholar-Activists.” She’s developed a unit on Scholar Activism for her middle school students so they have a better idea of what that title means and the honor it carries.

So far, we’ve explored the following questions:

What, exactly, is “scholar activism,” and why is it important to teach our students about scholar activism in the classroom?

In this post, Geneviève focuses on the ways we can collaborate with a range of community members, like fellow educators, students’ families, and community organizations, to create an authentic and engaging learning experience for our students (aka scholar-activists).

I recently spent some time working with third graders on motion stations.

As I watched them work, I was thinking about the transfer of energy and the unlimited possibilities for helping students understand this concept.

I started seeing energy everywhere I looked: watching a toy car move down a ramp, a pendulum swinging, and even balls bouncing. My brain was focused on moving energy and imagining the possibilities.

I was thinking about energy transfer even as I was helping students to grapple with questions of weight or height and mass, such as, “How does the height of the ramp affect the distance an object will travel?” or “How does the weight of the object affect the distance an object will travel?” The fact that I continued to return to this idea made me realize the importance of engaging our students with this phenomena… but how?

How might we engage students with the transfer of energy in the classroom in a fun and fascinating way right now?

TchLaureate Geneviève Debose Akinnagbe teaches ELA at Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists (BSSWA) in New York City, a secondary school where teachers refer to their students as “Scholar-Activists.” She’s developed a unit on Scholar Activism for her middle school students so they have a better idea of what that title means and the honor it carries.

In last week’s vlog, we learned about the term “scholar-activist,” and why it’s important to teach our students about scholar activism in the classroom.

Now that we have the why of scholar activism all worked out, let’s get to the how!

How do we co-create a scholar-activist experience with our students and our colleagues?

As teachers, we know we have to plan. Listen to Geneviève describe what it takes to create and plan a scholar-activist experience:

American Education Week (November 13-17), first celebrated in 1921, is an opportunity to celebrate public education, to inform the community of the accomplishments and needs of public schools, to secure cooperation and support from the public, and to honor individuals who are making a difference in ensuring that every child receives a quality education.